The invention relates to the sensing or detection of undesirable structures or intrusion events, such as tin whiskers, a tampering event, or an attempt to create a counterfeit device through alteration or unauthorized use of an electronic device, using a variety of structures and processing techniques. Current types of conformal coatings as applied on circuit boards are not able to prevent undesirable structure growth, such as tin or other whisker growth, through them. Furthermore, the undesirable structures that grow from current conformal coatings are problematic since they can create many short circuits and failures by conducting undesired current through them. One aspect or embodiment of the invention addresses this issue by providing a nano-fiber textile matrix above the conformal coated circuit board or by providing a conformal coat possessing a material such as a nano-fiber textile. Another embodiment of this invention utilizes encapsulating structures such as micro- or nano-tubes or micro- or nano-capsules containing a chemical fluid, such that when the undesirable structure ruptures the encapsulating structures, the fluid coats the undesirable structure with an electrically insulative layer. Thus, if the whisker emerges from the coating surface, it will have an electrically insulating coating material on its surface, rendering it electrically inactive and preventing electrical conduction.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.